The Cry of The Island

Chapter Six

A Hidden Evil.

Birds chirped and crickets hummed the next evening, as Rocky sat by the fire. Atticus was swimming and playing in the lagoon, going in and out of sight as he went underwater.

"Watch out for the sharks."

Rocky laughed, as Atticus was treading water. Atticus pretended that something was pulling him underwater, jokingly as he went under the water once more. Rocky started to remember what he saw in the cave when he was exploring, as a slight chill overcame him, remembering what he saw.

Over the island build-up of clouds continued. A steady current of heated air rose all day from the mountain and was thrust to ten thousand feet; revolving mases of gas piled up the static until the air was ready to explode. By the early evening the sunset had gone a brassy glare that had taken the place of clear daylight. Even the air that pushed in from the sea was hot and held no refreshment. Colours drained from water and trees and pink surfaces of rock, and the white and brown clouds brooded. Nothing prospered but the insects who blackened their lord and made the split guts look like a heap of glistening coal. Even when the vessel broke in Tommy's nose and the blood gushed out they left him alone, preferring the monkey's high flavour. He lay in a mat of creepers while the morning advanced and the volcano continued to sleep. At last he woke and saw the dimly dark earth close by his cheek. Still he did not move but lay there, his face sideways on the earth, his eyes looking dully before him. Then he turned over, drew his feet under him and laid hold of the creepers to pull himself up. When the creepers shook the insects exploded from the guts with a vicious note and clamped back on again. Tommy got to his feet. The light was bright. The monkey's head lay resting on the elevated flat rock platform like a black ball.

Tommy spoke aloud to the clearing.

"What else is there to do!"

Nothing replied. Tommy turned away from the open space and crawled through the creepers till he was in the dusk of the tropical. He walked drearily between the trunks, his face empty of expression, and the blood was dry around his mouth and chin. Only sometimes he lifted the ropes of creeper aside and chose his direction from the trend of the land, he mouthed words that did not reach the air.

Presently, the creepers festooned the trees less frequently and there was a scatter of pearly light from the sky down through the trees. This was the backbone of the island, the slightly higher land that lay beneath the volcano where the forest was no longer deep jungle.  Here there were wide spaces interspersed with thickets and huge trees and the trend of the ground led him up as the forest opened. He pushed on, staggering sometimes with his weariness but never stopping. He walked with a glum determination like an old man.

A buffet of wind made him stagger and he saw that he was out in the open on rock, under a brassy sky. He found his legs were weak and his tongue was numb. When the wind reached the volcano top, he could see something happen, a flicker of blue stuff against brown clouds. He pushed himself forward and the wind came up again, stronger now, cuffing the forest heads till they ducked and roared. Tommy felt his knees smack the rock. He crawled forward and soon he understood. The tangle of lines showed him the mirage of parody; he examined the dark thick trunks of legs, rotted teeth, the colours of corruption as this false illusion of a monkey would scatter in front of his eyes. Then the wind blew again, and the monkey disappeared off into the horizon. Tommy knelt on all fours and was sick till his stomach was empty. Then he took the lines in his hands; and freed them from and the rocks.

At last he turned away and looked down at the familiar pathway in the jungle that would lead to the lagoon. He could see in the sky that the fire by the lagoon's platform appeared to be out, or at least making smoke. The trail of the river that went through the jungle to the lagoon was in his peripherals, as he knew which way to go.